Scores of undocumented migrants who found themselves in detention near the U.S. border have told Miami lawyers the same story of being held in cells kept inhumanely cold.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY

What Sofía remembers most about her stay in a small holding cell in a detention center near the Mexican border is how cold it was. But she also remembers being hungry most of the time, and not being able to take a shower or change her clothes.

“It was traumatic being there,” said Sofía. “It was like torture.”

Sofía — who did not want her last name used — is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of undocumented immigrants being held for days at a time in small holding cells of crowded immigration detention centers along the Mexican border who have complained about conditions at the facilities. After a stay at the border-area detention sites, some of the immigrants are then transferred to more comfortable facilities elsewhere in the country, including the Broward Transitional Center (BTC) in Pompano Beach.

Sofía, 27, is one of more than 200 such detainees encountered by attorneys from the Miami-based immigrant rights organization Americans for Immigrant Justice at BTC over the past year who have provided information about conditions in the border-area holding cells, widely known in Spanish among Central American immigrants as “ hieleras,” or iceboxes, because of the low temperatures caused by air-conditioning running on high.

Typically, immigrant-rights activists say, the holding cells have a toilet, a sink, no shower and no bed. Also, detainees generally only get three bologna sandwiches — one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner, activists and former detainees say.

Conditions at the border area holding cells have been an issue for immigrant-rights activists and attorneys. Americans for Immigrant Justice, for example, has filed a formal complaint against Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Homeland Security immigration agency that operates the facilities. And two federal lawmakers, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, both California Democrats, are seeking to improve detention standards at the border-area installations.

Joseph Anderson, director of litigation for Americans for Immigrant Justice, has outlined Sofía’s case and other cases of undocumented immigrants who endured stays of several days at the border-area sites that otherwise appear designed to detain people for only a few hours, rather than days.

“CBP calls them holding stations or holding rooms,” Anderson said. “They are not designed to stay for a while. According to CBP’s own standards, ideally, people should be there no more than 12 hours. In fact, what’s happening is they are keeping people in these places for days at a time.”

Sofía said she was held for 13 days in three different cells at a border-area detention site.

Mohammad Abdollahi, an Iranian youth, said he was held less than 24 hours in a similar room at a detention facility in Arizona just north of the Mexican border in 2012. Abdollahi later was released and traveled to South Florida, where he became a prominent immigrant-rights activist and organizer with the group National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA). Abdollahi has since returned to Arizona and is now a leader in the group DreamActivist, seeking to persuade the U.S. government to allow immigrants who have been deported to return if they have close relatives in the United States.

“It was super cold in the room,” Abdollahi recalled. “And there were 60 people in a room, packed, and it was still cold, like the air-conditioning going on all the time, never pausing.”

Anderson said immigrant-rights activists believe the holding cells are deliberately kept cold and immigrants purposely made uncomfortable as tactics to pressure them into signing documents that enable immigration authorities to kick them out of the country quickly.

“Our take is they do it on purpose,” Anderson said. “Our clients say CBP officers have told them, ‘We are taking you to the freezer, and you’re going to stay in there until you learn that you should not come to this country or until they agree to waive all of their rights and get expeditious departure.”

The Miami CBP office did not provide a comment on the hieleras requested in an email message from el Nuevo Herald. But CBP officials in states along the Mexican border have denied allegations that the rooms are either cold or deliberately kept cold, and immigrants denied amenities so they agree to be deported.

Andy Adams, a Border Patrol spokesman, told the Los Angeles Times in December that cells are kept at 70 degrees and that blankets are provided if detainees request them. Separately, a CBP spokesman was quoted as saying: “Our agents and officers take great care to provide for the comfort and well-being of those in our custody, and our facilities are designed and maintained in accordance with applicable laws and policies.”

However, dozens of undocumented immigrants interviewed by el Nuevo Herald and other news organizations, and by immigration attorneys, tell consistent stories about the hieleras.

Also, more and more undocumented immigrants are telling similar stories because there is a new surge of Central American migrants now crossing the Mexican border after a decline in border arrests in recent years.

According to Border Patrol figures, agents detained more undocumented immigrants along the Mexican border in fiscal year 2013 — 414,397 — than in any of the previous two fiscal years: 327,577 and 356,873.

Sofía was among the more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants who crossed the border in 2013.

In general, Mexican undocumented migrants are returned to their home country within hours or a few days. But Central Americans like Sofía cannot be deported immediately and are generally turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Once the Central Americans are turned over to ICE, the agency transfers them to its own detention centers — including BTC in Pompano Beach — where conditions are more comfortable.

After Sofía was moved to BTC, she was interviewed by staff members from Americans for Immigrant Justice, whose attorneys now represent her. She was released and is now seeking asylum.

The March 22 Miami Herald article Questions about death of Mexican teen linger was yet another reminder of the growing number of immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border.A recent independent review found that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have stepped in the path of cars in order to justify shooting at passengers and have opened fire at people throwing rocks from the Mexican side of the border. The report also criticized CBP’s “lack of diligence” in investigating the shootings.In early 2013, Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice) attorneys began hearing jarring narratives from detainees who had been transferred to Florida from the border. They described being locked up in overcrowded cells with no beds, no showers, no blankets and little food or water. The cells are so cold that people’s fingers and toes turn blue and their lips crack and bleed.

CBP officers call these hieleras (iceboxes). Detainees aren’t given even the most basic supplies, like toothbrushes, soap, combs or ample sanitary napkins; a single toilet is in plain view, and bright overhead lights are on around the clock.

Maria, a diabetic, fled after being repeatedly raped by her abuser and was held in the hieleras for 13 days. “When I saw Border Patrol I thought they’d help me, but they threw away my insulin and syringes and my anti-seizure medications,” she said. On the second day of detention Maria passed out, was handcuffed and taken to the hospital. “The doctor there said I needed my medications but I was taken back to the hielera the same day and I never got them,” Maria said.

Sofia, who fled years of life-threatening sexual abuse by a police officer in Mexico, said that after knocking her to the ground, a Border Patrol officer “ordered me and the others to get in the dog kennel.”

Ana spent six days in the hieleras. “When CBP officers threatened me with indefinite detention I told them that I feared I’d be killed if they sent me back. The officer called me a bad name and said my fear didn’t matter because everyone there was going home,” Ana said.

Countless children are also detained in these holding stations. Michelle, a teenage orphan, fled her country with her baby to escape the brutal rapes and beatings. “I was not allowed to change my 1-year-old daughter’s clothes at any point during our nine-day stay in the hieleras,” she said. “I was yelled at by a male officer who said we were just coming to this country to steal their money. My daughter cried during our entire stay because of the extreme discomfort caused by her soiled diaper and her lack of warm clothing.”

Although persons in CBP custody should be promptly processed before transfer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many are detained for weeks. Virtually all report officers threaten that they will be punished if they don’t sign papers in English that they don’t understand. By signing the papers, they’ve agreed to their deportation. Many detainees are bona fide asylum seekers or otherwise entitled to protection under our laws.

AI Justice filed formal complaints with CBP and the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of several women and children, but has received no response. In mid-March we filed a federal court lawsuit to compel CBP to respond to our Freedom of Information Act request seeking information regarding conditions in CBP iceboxes.

Clearly, security at our borders can be achieved without subjecting women and children to unconscionable, inhumane treatment. Americans condemn such actions in other countries; we need to live up to our own ideals.

In December 2013, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced the Humane Short Term Custody Act, which we helped draft and which would require that all individuals in CPB custody receive humane and fair treatment. This bill is desperately needed in order to better ensure that all persons in our government’s custody are accorded basic human rights and dignity.

WASHINGTON — Every day, hundreds of immigrants suspected of living in the country illegally are held behind bars in Florida, part of a controversial crackdown that helps fill a federal detention-bed quota.

Critics call the quota a boondoggle that benefits privately run prisons and spreads anguish through immigrant communities. Defenders say it compels federal officials to enforce immigration law and discourages illegal migration.

Now President Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch and Florida immigrant leaders are trying to scale back or eliminate the quota, which requires detaining an average of 34,000 immigrants a day nationwide.

“You have this broken immigration system with a bottleneck of cases, but they are still going after people to detain them and meet this quota, while racking up costs to the taxpayers,” said Melissa McGuire-Maniau, of Winter Park. Her husband was detained in Pompano Beach before being released and becoming a permanent legal resident.

“There are thousands of cases like my husband’s. We know it when we see friends and family who are here today and vanished tomorrow. A mother or husband or friend goes to work but doesn’t make it home, and everyone is worried sick. Then you find out three days later they are in detention.”

She and other activists say the “bed mandate” encourages officials to pick up immigrants who commit minor violations or get flagged while seeking documents.

Removing the quota would mean that authorities “would not go out of their way to detain people for minor offenses or because they look like an immigrant,” said Marlene Dindyal, 49, of Port St. Lucie. She was detained for three years and deported to Trinidad before a federal court ruled that she had not committed a deportable offense and allowed her to return.

The quota began in 2009 when an immigration crackdown led to record numbers of deportations. The crackdown continues, even as Congress considers legislation that would allow millions of foreign residents to remain here legally.

“Many of the people being detained and deported would be eligible for relief if a comprehensive reform bill were to pass,” said Cheryl Little, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice in Miami. “It’s beyond absurd to require that X-number be arrested and detained on a daily basis. It’s a boondoggle for the private prison industry.”

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency spends about $2 billion a year on detention — more than $5 million a day. Some inmates are kept in federal facilities such as the Krome Detention Center in Miami. Some are in county jails. Most are held in privately run prisons such as the Broward Transitional Center, a 700-bed compound in Pompano Beach.

The agency reported last week that 1,526 detainees were being held in Florida facilities as of March 15.

Some detainees from Central Florida are sent to Broward or other facilities, and some are held briefly at county jails. Orange County Jail officials say they housed an average of 98 immigrant detainees per day from July 2012 through June 2013 at a daily cost of $103 each. The county got $2.2 million from federal agencies in fiscal 2013 to pay for it.

More than $127 million was allotted for detention contracts in Florida from October 2011 through last year, according to a compilation of federal figures by CIVIC, an advocacy group for detainees and their families.

One of the largest prison companies is the Boca Raton-based Geo Group, which runs the Broward center and 97 other detention sites worldwide.

Geo spends heavily to promote its interests in Washington. The company has given $56,375 to political groups and candidates in 2013-14 and spent $460,000 on lobbying in 2013, according to a compilation of federal reports by the Center for Responsive Politics.

“As a matter of long-standing policy, our company does not take a position on or advocate for any specific immigration policies,” a Geo spokesman said last week. “Our company’s efforts are aimed exclusively at educating decision-makers on the benefits of public-private partnerships, which have been independently validated to generate savings for taxpayers while providing high-quality services and improved programs.”

Some Republicans in Congress promote the quota, saying it ensures that Obama administration enforces immigration law. Their views are echoed by some Floridians who think enforcement remains lax.

“Some of these people they apprehend and hold should have been deported as soon as possible to make room for others who they pick up, instead of releasing them,” said Bill Landes of Winter Haven, a board member of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement.

Caught in the middle, Obama is trying to show he is enforcing the law while making the process more humane. He proposed a budget earlier this month that calls for easing the bed mandate while providing enough funding for 30,539 detention beds.

“ICE will continue to focus on the most serious criminals and continue to achieve record criminal removal levels at a reduced cost under this proposed budget,” ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale told Congress.

Rep. Deutch, a Boca Raton Democrat, is leading efforts to remove the mandate. “This is a $2 billion line item that strips away the discretion of law enforcement to do its job,” Deutch said.

“There are people, including at the Broward Transitional Center, who have been detained just to occupy beds — people who are no threat to the community, who don’t pose a flight risk, people with full-time jobs and families in the community, and students as well. Especially in South Florida, this isn’t just an immigration issue, it’s a human-rights issue.”

]]>http://aijustice.org/florida-immigrants-decry-detention-quota-sun-sentinel/feed/0AI Justice Sues U.S. Customs & Border Protectionhttp://aijustice.org/ai-justice-sues-customs-border-protection/
http://aijustice.org/ai-justice-sues-customs-border-protection/#commentsThu, 13 Mar 2014 20:48:19 +0000adminhttp://aijustice.org/?p=4790Washington, DC – March 13, 2014 – Today Americans for Immigrants Justice (AI Justice) filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court against Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to force CBP to disclose documents and records related to the abuse immigrant women, children and men held by CBP in detention facilities along the US border.

“We have heard from more than a hundred immigrants who were held by our own government in the most inhumane conditions here in the US. Customs and Border Protection Agent kept adults and children in detention facilities under conditions that most Americans would believe only exist in third-world countries,” said Joseph Anderson, Director of Litigation for AI Justice. “Men, women and children are locked up in extremely overcrowded cells, sometimes for weeks at a time, with no beds, no showers, no clean clothing and little food or water. The lights are kept on 24/7 and the temperature is so cold that people’s fingers and toes turn blue, their lips chap, crack and bleed,” said Anderson. “In July 2013 we asked CBP to produce records related to the use of these inhumane practices and got no response. We asked twice more for these government records without success. Today we filed suit today in federal court to force CBP to produce these records which we believe will prove that CBP agents have and continue to use illegal, inhumane tactics to coerce immigrants into agreeing to waive all their rights and be immediately deported” said Anderson.

“Some of the men and women held by CBP in these abusive conditions are bona fide asylum seekers who have every right to come to the US seeking our protection and help. They include women fleeing violence and children whose families and lives have been threatened by gang violence,” said Cheryl Little, Executive Director of AI Justice. “It is shameful that people who have already experienced tragic and devastating losses and come here seeking our help are instead subject to further trauma at the hands of our own government,” said Little. “CBP should stop stonewalling and not only produce the documents we have requested but also conduct their own investigation and immediately put an end to the illegal and unconscionable treatment of vulnerable people.”

AI Justice continues its campaign to advocate for humane conditions for individuals held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody. In particular, we focus our efforts on ending the use of hieleras where women and children describe being locked in freezing cold, bare, over-crowded concrete rooms for weeks at a time, sharing a single toilet, with no beds or bedding, no change of clothing, and no toiletries.

In addition to the Federal Tort Claims Actions that AI Justice has filed on behalf of eight of these women, we continue to seek an end to these practices through legislation. We continue to work with Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and her staff on the Protect Family Values at the Border Act that would require CBP to uphold very basic standards of care, such as ensuring adequate nutrition, appropriate climate, and medical care.

In December, our Director of Litigation met with Senator Barbara Boxer and her staff again in Washington, D.C. to discuss CBP’s continuing use of the hieleras. Senator Boxer then introduced Senate Bill 1817 (The Humane Short-Term Custody Act), which would impose basic, humane standards including provision of adequate shelter, food, and medical care for the thousands of people held in CBP custody each day.

On February 20, 2014, AI Justice and the Women’s Refugee Commission held a legislative briefing in Washington, DC, for House and Senate staffers to learn more about the need for and provisions of the Humane Short Term Custody Act. Joe Anderson, AI Justice Director of Litigation was one of two presenters at the briefing. In addition, an AI Justice client, who was held by CBP in the hieleras for 15 days, travelled from New York and testified at the briefing. A capacity crowd of more than 75 people from dozens of different congressional offices attended the briefing.

In March, AI Justice, in conjunction with co-cousel Ira Kurzban, will be filing a federal law suit against CBP on behalf of the client who testified at the hearing.

The YPAIJ’s 2nd Annual Dinner Kick Off Party created a lot of buzz! Guests enjoyed the festive atmosphere at Fado Irish Pub and the opportunity to network with over 60 young professionals who work in fields from law to athletics.

The lucky winners of the drawing for a ticket to the 18th Annual Awards Dinner were Carol Flynn of HR Solutions and Nikki Cannon of Family Resource Center.

Not a member of the YPAIJ yet? A special YPAIJ ticket for the dinner is available for $200 until March 1, which includes a one year YPAIJ membership.

AI Justice, along with American Immigration Lawyers Association-Miami Chapter, and The Dade County Bar Association, hosted a holiday party with food, music, fun, and gifts for close to 160 children ranging in age from 4 to 18. Volunteers and generous donors treated these children in local immigration shelters to their favorite dishes from their home countries and other festive holiday traditions.

AI Justice’s Children’s Legal Program team worked hard to organize and plan the event. They were overwhelmed by the generosity of so many and were thrilled to be able to present the children with hundreds of donated gifts.

We would especially like to thank the following donors and volunteers for giving so generously of their time and resources to this special event:

Carson Osberg joined AI Justice’s Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Program, where she represents survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. A Public Interest/Public Service (PIPS) Scholar at the American University Washington College of Law, she focused on immigration law and workers’ rights and participated in WCL’s Immigrant Justice Clinic. An active volunteer and student organization member, Carson also spearheaded her school’s Equal Justice Foundation and co-chaired the Immigrants’ Rights Coalition.

Prior to law school, Carson worked for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), managing a program providing family reunification assistance for human trafficking survivors. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University, speaks Spanish, and has lived in Spain, Mexico, and Ecuador.

“I’m thrilled to join AI Justice’s great team of advocates and to be able to pursue my passion for serving low-income immigrant crime and violence survivors. Hello, dream job!”

In the fall, The Batchelor Foundation presented AI Justice’s Children’s Legal Program with a generous $30,000.00 grant and a challenge – raise $40,000.00 and they would donate an additional $40,000.00 to match. Thanks to our committed supporters, AI Justice met the challenge!
The following Donors generously kicked off the campaign and helped us to ensure we would meet the challenge:

AI Justice received a grant from The Impact Fund for litigation expenses related to AI Justice’s federal court lawsuit to end the use of hieleras by Customs and Border Protection.
We appreciate the support of all of our funders.